Philosophy for Understanding Theology, Second Edition

by Diogenes Allen, Eric O. Springsted

Philosophy for Understanding Theology has become the classic text for exploring the relationship between philosophy and Christian theology. This new edition adds chapters on postmodernism and questions of the self and the good to bring the book up to date with current scholarship. It introduces students to the influence that key philosophers and philosophical movements through the centuries have had on shaping Christian theology in both its understandings and forms of expression.

Genres: Philosophy

416 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2023

Reviews

[Christian]

There are better options than this book.

[Clark McGehee]

I thought this was very helpful into the understanding of philosophy. In all honesty, they could’ve done more in the book to tie it directly to theology, but it was still well done, and truly helps to understand the philosophers, in which they have another book, “Primary Readings in Philosophy for Understanding Theology”

[Evan Jackson]

Good to finally finish the book. I’ve been reading it and rereading it and rereading it again for a class that I’ve been taking. Really awesome historical philosophy and theology!

[Nathan]

This book is a book about understanding how philosophical thinkers have influenced theology and its doctrines starting from the Pre-Socratics all the way to postmodern thinkers such as Foucault and Derrida.

The topics covered ranges from the nature and existence of God to morality. A bulk of the book is also devoted to epistemology, and the question of whether we can truly know that God exists. Allen argues that we can know that God exists, but we cannot fully comprehend his divine substance as he is out of this universe. He is not constrained in time and space as we are.

The book starts by comparing the creation of the world in Genesis to Plato's Theory of Forms. The difference between Plato and Christianity is that the world was not created for Plato but it was created for Christianity. In Plato's account, the world was in disorder but brought to order by a demiurge while for Christians, it is creation ex nihilo.

In short, Allen attempts to show how philosophy from the ancient age to the postmodern age has influenced Christianity in terms of the nature and knowledge of God's existence. Furthermore, the development of ethics also constitute parts of this book, ranging from Kant's practical reason to moral philosophy.

[Dave Herman]

This book is helpful to anyone studying Western philosophy. For me, I hit a wall in trying to understand the later chapters of Augustine's Confessions and Gregory of Nyssa. They live in a completely different ideological world, and to understand them, I need to understand the basics of Greek philosophy. Expressing this concern to a philosophy professor/theologian friend led to this recommendation. After reading, I feel like I may grasp just ten percent of its contents, but pressing through has allowed me to encounter its major ideas that are milestones in the history and development of Western thought. This book will likely continue to be my reference guide when I read early church thinkers. It's written accessibly to introduce basic concepts but also challenges readers to stretch to comprehend the implications of these major thoughts as well.

[Blake Randolph]

Decent overview of the history of philosophy for the sake of deeper understanding of theology. Tons of ground to cover, so it could feel like drinking from a fire hose if you might not have background in history of philosophy.